Old Bagatelle shop to be converted to hotel accommodation

Brakspear who own the old Bagatelle shop at 63 Duke Street (also known as The Dolls House) has got planning permission to change the use to hotel accommodation.

Bagatelle closed at this site in March 2023 when the lease expired before new owners opened a new shop further up Bell Street at number 23.

The planning permission allows the conversion of the whole of the Grade II existing house from a retail unit (first floor) and holiday rental accommodation (second floor) into 6 x individual room serviced hotel accommodation plus a function space on the ground floor for the Bull on Bell Street.

Henley Town Council recommend refusal of this application as it failed to provide sufficient information to support the proposed change of use and did not demonstrate that the current commercial use of the site was no longer viable.  The Planning Committee were also concerned by the loss of retail space in the town centre.

South Oxfordshire District Council approved the plans by delegated powers of the Planning Officer even though Henley Town Council asked for this to be ‘called in’ and reviewed by the SODC Planning Committee.

In the delegated officer report from Tom Wyatt it stated, “Whilst Henley Town Council raised formal objection to the applications, both the change of use application and the listed building consent application are categorised as ‘Other’ rather than ‘Minor’ development. As such, the Town Council’s contrary view does not trigger a committee referral under the current constitution. A ‘call-in’ request was received from the local ward member, however this was outside the 28-day period set in the constitution and as such, it was invalid. The relevant parties were notified on 28 August.”  The report also stated that this site was outside of the main shopping area.

You can see the plans here.